-
Christianity isn’t for the lazy
“If you are thinking of becoming a Christian, I warn you, you are embarking on something which is going to take the whole of you, brains and all… Anyone who is honestly trying to be a Christian will soon find his intelligence being sharpened: one of the reasons why it needs no special education to be a Christian is that…
-
Spiritual Father
I relish every time I get together with my spiritual father. He has mentored me all through ministry, beginning in college. When we sit over coffee these days it is some of the most precious time I could ever spend with someone else. Today it was about the presence of Jesus. It was about Jesus giving himself, finding a way…
-
Resolved: Be done with “fixing” people
As a pastor, the temptation is huge to “fix” people. They have a problem. They lay it out to you. You fix it. It is incredibly interesting to me that Jesus never “fixed” Peter. He let Peter know that Satan had asked permission to sift him as wheat, and Jesus said he would PRAY for Peter (Luke 22:31-32). As I…
-
Everyone gets an education
Reading through the tribute to Dallas Willard, Todd Hunter points out a saying of Dallas I have loved. Hunter puts it this way: “…’one thing is for sure,’ Dallas wrote, ‘you are somebody’s disciple. You (are learning) how to live form somebody else. There are no exceptions to this rule.’” I remember Dallas saying something similar: Everyone gets an education.…
-
Youth Ministry as “Cheap Grace?”
Scot McKnight gives some excerpts from an author named Andrew Root on the use of Bonhoeffer with youth. Root recommends taking some of Bonhoeffer’s essential ideas and utilizing them in discipling youth. (More HERE) He also gives a sober warning: It is possible that much of North American youth ministry is actually the perpetuation of cheap grace; it is the…
-
The sex talk
When you preach through the Bible with a systematic style of having the text in front of you, those really tough places will pop up from time to time. Eventually, you get to passage you’d rather skip over. 1 Thess. 4 is one of those places. Paul won’t avoid it. Neither should we. And my question is just very, very…
-
Do we truly EXPECT transformation?
Do we honestly expect transformation in the life of the believer? Do we walk in a way that brings instruction? Would we hesitate at Paul’s bold instruction these days? Would WE say these words: As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask…
-
The need for spiritual community
“People are God’s method. The church is looking for better methods: God is looking for better people.” — EM Bounds We get so fooled into trying build a better mousetrap in ministry rather than taking people God gives us and seeing the image of Christ formed in them. God consistently took people in the Bible who were in lousy shape…
-
Am I willing to be “Exhibit A?”
Transformation of the heart, soul, and mind isn’t done in a vacuum. This isn’t a “me and Jesus” effort. This is a BODY OF CHRIST effort. We need to surrender our ideals about “rugged individualism” and see the benefit of the Body of Christ. Walking in true transformation means I need to be willing to be “Exhibit A.” I’m willing…
-
Be anxious for nothing. Really.
I am working through a series I’ve called “Live Dead.” I am using the missions theme our denomination uses that is building teams to go into the hardest areas of the world and from that exploring what it means to “live dead” as American Christians. I’ve been drawing from the New Testament readings each week in our services (Revised Common…
Tag: Discipleship
